


Every Day is Exactly the Same (Title may change)

by KFAMFan



Category: King Falls AM (Podcast)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Back Pain, F/M, Gen, M/M, Medicinal Drug Use, One-Sided Attraction, Painkillers, Past Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, Warnings May Change, other characters to be added - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:21:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24187303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KFAMFan/pseuds/KFAMFan
Summary: With King Falls under a pandemic lockdown, The Void active but biding its time, and Sammy dealing with chronic pain issues, what's next for our epic team? (Not a one shot, but writing as I go, lol.)
Relationships: Ben Arnold/Emily Potter, Ben Arnold/Sammy Stevens
Comments: 17
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, here it is, my first released KFAM fanfic. Hope you all enjoy. CW – Past Child Abuse (various), drug use (maybeh), chronic pain / injury, mental illness, some potential non-con elements as well, but nothing in this first chapter.  
> Disclaimer: I haven't written a fanfic in YEARS, so hopefully I still got it. All glory to the creative minds behind King Falls AM and their characters, namely Kyle and Eric, but also Noah, Trent and the rest of the cast and crew. I hope I do the characters you've created proud, gents. Top motherfucking notch. With that said, here's the first chapter. Let's rock and roll, shall we? ;)  
> Also, I think I'm wonking up my paragraphs, cause I'm a derpy. If I am, let me know, lol.

Present Day

He woke up from the nightmare - his back, shoulders and arms throbbing in pain while the nerves underneath his skin spasmed randomly. Groaning, Samuel (Sammy) “Shotgun” Stevens reached for his vape pen, just to remember at the last moment that he was out, that he'd ran out after the last neuropathy flareup he'd had, and that the governor of the state had effectively closed head shops and medical marijuana stores when this pandemic began - leaving those that relied on medical marijuana to find other less effective or legal means of pain relief.

Breathing heavily and slowly in order to not wake up his roommates, he whispered “fuck” harshly to his bedroom ceiling, drawing the red comforter around him as his body continued to throb in protest. Cursing silently, he grasped the half empty BioFreeze roll on from his bedside table and proceeded to slather it on himself as much as he could. He thought he'd finally gotten his pain levels under control until the night that Sheriff Judd motherfucking Gunderson arrested his friend – Hell, his brother, if he was being honest with himself – Ben Arnold. He'd been able to keep his pain symptoms under the radar for the most part, which, with Ben being who he was, wasn't necessarily easy – but he'd been able to manage, with no one being the wiser.

Until that fucking morning.

After Ben had been forcefully removed, he couldn't honestly remember the rest of that morning's show, or even remembered how the rest of the day went, other than bailing Ben out of jail. As soon as he got back to his apartment however, the pain from his scars lanced through him, sharp and deep, and he gasped, tears welling up in his eyes as he hurriedly made his way inside to his tiny little safe haven. Already his shoulder muscles felt like they'd locked up on him, and he wrenched his shirt off to see the scar tissue, once close to faded against his skin, now stood out in sharp relief against it. “What the fuck?” He stared in shock as nerves seemed to cause his skin to jump, and he lowered his head, forcing himself to breathe through the pain until it subsided enough for him to slather some BioFreeze on his shoulders and back as best as he was able to, before calling the local chiropractor to be seen.

Nowadays, things were unpleasant – Grisham was still in power, and still a douche, though that was to be expected – and while the Devil's Doorstep was still on everyone's mind, ever since December 15th the Void hadn't moved from Perdition Wood, though he could hear Jack's voice at times pleading with him, wheedling with him _just to take a nice walk, just a hike and we'd be together again – **Isn't that what you WANT, Sammy? Why are you making me WAIT?**_

“You've been corrupted by the Void,” Sammy responded flatly to the ceiling, “and until we're able to get you out of there, I'm not going anywhere NEAR Perdition Wood.” He paused, realizing he'd said it out loud, then slammed his eyes shut and shook his head. The last thing – The Absolute LAST FUCKING THING HE NEEDED – was to have Ben, Emily and Lily think he'd suddenly come down with Schizophrenia. Speaking of...

“Hey Sammy,” Ben said softly after knocking on his bedroom door, “You ok?” Sammy sighed quietly, but responded.

“I've been better.”

“Can I – er...Can I come in?”

“Knock yourself out.” The door opened quietly to reveal his co-host of the Sammy and Ben Show on King Falls AM – '660 on the Radio Dial' - Ben Arnold, who was wearing a pair of shorts and an overlarge T-Shirt that said “Garbage Bears are Evil”. Ben looked tired himself, and yawned as he unceremoniously sat on the side of Sammy's bed.

“Hey.”

Sammy snorted out a laugh, and shook his head, wincing slightly as he did so. “Hey.”

“Are you ok? I heard you talking, and you're obviously in some pain – I smell enough Ben Gay in here to fill up a swimming pool.” Sammy frowned at him, and sighed. He might as well tell him, as he wouldn't let it go until he found out.

“I...uh...” he sighed and turned his gaze to the ceiling before continuing. “Well, first off, it's BioFreeze, but...that's besides the point. I was...talking to Jack. He's been...contacting me.”

“What? How?!” Ben shot up from the bed, and made his way to the door. “I gotta get-”

“-Ben, please. Wait.” The tremor in the older man's voice brought him up short, and Ben glanced back at him, seeing tears in Sammy's eyes. “We can have a chat with the ladies later, but...please. Not now. I...I legit can't get out of this fucking bed right now. And I'm not joking when I say that.”

“You're in that much pain? What the Hell did you do? Sleep on the wrong side of the bed?” He shook his head shortly, and gestured Ben to sit back down again, which the shorter man did.

“Chronic pain, from...awhile ago; Tendonitis and...some other issues,” he answered shortly, and to his credit, Ben didn't pry. He would tell Ben in his own time, the younger man knew, but now...was not that time.

“Fair enough,” Ben stated instead with a sigh. “so, Jack?” Sammy sighed again, and shifted on the bed with a soft grunt.

“Jack, at least I think it's him...has been...contacting me. Since December.” Ben stared at him, and then silently and exaggeratedly facepalmed repeatedly. Sammy scowled, but continued. “Ben, I know that you think I'm a moron here for not telling you, but if you had a disembodied voice taunting, threatening, begging and pleading with you to 'Come Home' in your head at random times throughout the last couple of months, you'd think you were crazy too.” Sammy turned away, feeling tears pricking his eyes.

“So he was contacting you-”

“- Over the radio? No,” Sammy shook his head. “Just...” he tapped his head a couple of times for emphasis, “in here.” Ben frowned, and sat back down on the side of the bed, studying him.

“Jack in the Box Jesus.”

“You could say that.” The two sat in silence for a minute before Ben spoke up again.

“What has he been saying...?”

“He...he uh...likes to berate me a lot. Says I'm useless, that I don't know what I'm missing. That I must not actually love him if I'm not willing to go – there,” Sammy said, steadfastly studying the comforter - Jack's comforter, Ben reminded himself – not willing or wanting to meet Ben's eyes. “Threatens Emily, Troy, Lily...you.” Ben felt a small shiver of fear slide into his gut that Sammy's boyfriend – fiance, he corrected himself sternly – was now obviously possessed, a Voidmonster or the Final Boss ShadowMaker (whose power level was probably over nine-motherfucking-thousand) that they would have to eventually deal with in order to close the Void – and that Jack wanted them dead and would have no problem killing them all - or hesitate to do so - in order to get what he wanted – the tall, slightly lanky man laying in bed beside him.

 _He's not telling you everything. There's more...far darker things that Jack has been saying to him...but he won't tell you unless you ask. YOU NEED TO ASK_ , an inner dialogue that sounded suspiciously like Walt chided him. _He needs to be drained of the poison Jack is injecting into him, or he WILL go, and you WILL lose. It is a matter of time if you do not._ Ben sighed, and mentally prepared himself. “What else has he been saying, Sammy?”

“You don't-”

“-I have to know. You can't carry this shit alone; I refuse to let you do that to yourself. Not again. **Not ever fucking again**.”

Sammy was silent for a moment before responding, his voice so low that Ben could barely hear him – but what he said made Ben pale. “The longer I make him wait, the worse all your deaths will be. Yours...will be the slowest...and the last. He – he...uh-” the older man gulped in air as his fists clenched into the comforter, “-he plans on...making me his...um...his 'pet', and...punishing me for making him wait. For not finding him back in 2015 when I first came here. And please, please...don't ask me how. PLEASE.” Sammy's tri-colored eyes stared into Ben's own, tears spilling down his face. “You don't...you don't want to fucking know.”

 _I think I can guess_ , Ben thought grimly, sending dark thoughts towards the THING that dared want to hurt the man he considered an un-official/official big brother (and maybe something MORE, but he wasn't ready for the implications of THAT yet by far.) _You'll have to go through ME, you motherfucking sonofaFUCK-_

“Sammy. Whatever he's threatened you with...he's gonna have to go through me. And I will use my mad ninja skills in Jewish Ju-jitsu if I have to. He won't stand a chance against THAT, lemme tell you WHAT.” Sammy snorted a laugh then, and Ben smiled, unable to keep a straight face. “For real though, once...the sun comes up, we're going to talk to the ladies about this. They need to know.”

Sammy nodded.

“I know. S'not going to make it any easier to talk about, but...you're right.”

Ben patted Sammy lightly on the shoulder. “I'm always right, Sammy, Geez. Thought you would've gotten that message by now,” Ben grinned. “Try to get some sleep man, ok?”

“Yeah. I love you Ben,” Sammy said quietly, before closing his eyes, not witnessing the blush on the younger man's face.

“I love you too, Sammy,” Ben said softly to a lightly snoring Sammy. “Get some rest.”


	2. Chaptah 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See the first chapter (and the end of this one) for notes and stuff - nothing triggering in this chapter, I don't think, though shit's gon' get worse in the next few once I get around to writing them, just saying, lol. Yes, there are some lines pretty much word for word from ep. 94, 'Misdirects' in a kinda / sorta flashback ;)

Waking from a dreamless sleep (that he found himself to be thankful for, as those were now a rarity for him), Sammy found that he could move once again without much discomfort, and only slightly winced as he slid out of bed. He could hear rain coming down outside, and sighed. 

Perfect weather for what would be a shitty conversation.

Changing into some regular clothes, he made his way out to the kitchen, Where Ben wordlessly handed him one of his own pre-made jars of overnight oats with a welcoming smile.

Sammy smiled back, feeling slightly better about the little meeting to come, as he snagged the bottle of Effexor to take his medication with breakfast. Lily and Emily were already talking quietly in the living room about where they may be able to find where the Book had gone – when they'd felt it was safe to return to their apartment on the 16 th of December, the book had disappeared, but nothing else had been touched. 

They were all relatively certain that the lovely people over at the Science Institute hadn't gotten it – after all, Sammy and Ben had made enemies with both Gunderson and Salcedo, so if the SI HAD crashed into their place, it only stood to reason that it'd be trashed – but other than the book, there wasn't a hair out of place.

“Morning, mop-top,” Lily grinned at him. “Have a nice nap?”

“Ha-ha, Lily, it was fantastic, as always,” Sammy replied drolly, before digging into his oats. “How'd you sleep?”

Lily shrugged. “Can't complain. Short stack said we all needed to have a talk this morning?”

Sammy's eyes slid over to Ben's, and he raised his eyebrows.  _ Really, man? You couldn't wait?  _ Ben shrugged in return, jerking his head slightly. 

_ Figured I'd let them know, it's not like it was going to be that much of a secret that much longer anyways _ , the younger man responded in their unspoken language. Lily watched the silent exchange and rolled her eyes, which caused Emily to chuckle.

“They can't help it,” Emily smiled.

After his breakfast, he told them everything.

It went about as well as could be expected, which is to say that Lily called him a moron for not saying something sooner before she walked out to get some air, Emily looked at him sadly before giving him a tight hug and stating that she was going to continue to look into where the book might be, and Ben just hugged him silently without saying a word.

Minutes later, Sammy sighed and made to get up, when he gasped in pain as his back flared. Wincing, he sat back down, curling in on himself as Ben looked at him worriedly.

“Your back?”

Sammy smiled wanly. “Yeah. I'll...uh...get over it. It'll be fine.”

“Hell with that. Do you have a green card or some shit?” Sammy chuckled, raising a hand over his face.

“The stores are closed...and I'm out, just my luck.” Ben stared at him, a look of steely determination on his face that Sammy had seen many times before, usually when it came to Emily.

“I'll be right back, give me a second,” Ben said, launching himself off of the couch and heading towards his room, much to Sammy's consternation. He could dimly hear Ben's muffled voice from his position, and didn't budge as Ben came back out with a smirk, grabbing his car keys. “Can you stand? We're taking a ride.”

“'Taking a ride'...where, exactly?”

“To get you some help, duh,” Ben said exaggeratedly, as Sammy slowly rose from the couch, wincing as he did so. “at least...that's the game plan, anyways.” Sammy sighed as they walked out towards the car, and unconsiously Sammy scanned the area for any threats. Not that he was in any particular shape to deal with any threat, but that was besides the point. The last thing either of the men needed was to meet Salcedo or Gunderson unawares, and the taller man felt a pit of dread in his stomach as he recalled the last time he and Salcedo had spoken.

“ -We are dealing with real shit, life and death  _ scary shit _ , so a cowboy with a six-inch voice and a Tony Soprano knockoff with a remote-control Tim just ain’t gonna cut it anymore, got it? Go find someone else to bully, because it will not be us,  _ ever again _ .”

“That so?”

“If you think I’m playing, Ernie,  **come try it** .” Ben's eyes widened as he stared with unabashed awe at his older co-host, whose eyes were solidly fixed on the solid light of the telephone line.

“Look at you. Big talk from an even bigger coward. Boo-hooing and what-not...over your feelings and missing your loved ones and what-not.”

“Fuck you, Ernie. Or, how ’bout this? Fuck you, Blue Apron Bob. Or, how ’bout this! Fuck you, Bert and Ernie! Or whatever other  **fucking** aliases you go by! I am fed the  **fuck** up and frankly, we’ve got bigger and better things to deal with than being harassed by  **_you_ ** !”

“You keep thinking that, 'Shotgun'. You with him on this, Benny?”

Ben glanced at the board and swallowed before he answered.

“Um...Well, I said my name is Ben, and... I’m one hundred percent with my friend, Mr... Ernie.”

“You'se two are real cute, and while I appreciate your time, then...if you hear from your little masked Dirt pal and you change your mind, let me know. Could save all parties a lot of heartache and... **suffering,** ” Salcedo seemed to verbally gloat over the phone.

“Stay the hell away from us and our friends, and we’ll do the same,” Sammy growled flatly, his hands clenched into fists and shaking.

“Sure thing, there. Adios, amigos.”

Sammy was relatively sure that the conversation had only been the calm before the storm however, and knew that if -when- the Science Institute made their move, it'd be something that the team might not be able to easily recover from.

Lost in his own thoughts, he wasn't paying attention to where Ben was driving until his friend pulled into a driveway and honked his horn. Sammy glanced up to see that they were in a mobile home park, in the driveway of an older single-wide trailer. Looking over at Ben questioningly, the other man shrugged.

“He's the only one I know off the top of my head that'd be willing to help us – you - out,” Ben responded quietly, as the front door opened. Sammy groaned aloud, facepalming, as Doyle Bevins walked towards their vehicle, his eyes oddly sharp and expression serious.

“Well hey there Sammy-Wan Kenobi and Ben Skywalker,” Doyle drawled, approaching Sammy's window. “How can I help you on this lovely day?”

Sammy sighed, and rolled his eyes at Ben, who punched him on the arm lightly.

“You need the help, and he's willing to do that man – at least until this shit is over with. Besides, you may end up getting a discount,” Ben said hopefully, and Doyle winked.

“Indeed Sammy Bo-Bammy,” Doyle agreed, taking out a small notebook. “What do you need?”

Sammy bit his lip, but couldn't fight the tremor of pain that wracked his upper body, stemming from his back. Before he could say anything, Doyle nodded knowingly. “I'll be right back.” He lazily made his way back inside, and the two DJ's glanced at each other, unsure of what was going on. He came back out a short while later with a small paper bag.

“I got some good shit here...good for pain and anxiety. How do you normally take it?”

“I usually vape or try to juice it, depending.”

“Oil?”

“Yeah...can’t afford to be couch-locked.” Doyle chuckled heartily, handing the bag over.

“How much do I-”

“Nothing at the moment,” Doyle interrupted lazily, giving him a smile, “but I wouldn’t mind some free ads for Doyle’s Conspiracy Cavern”. Sammy sighed, but shook his head.

“Deal, Doyle. And...thanks.” Sammy lowered his head, embarrassed. 

“No problemo, Sammy Bo-Bammy,” Doyle drawled, giving the two radio personalities a wave as Ben put the car into drive. Sammy raised his hand in thanks as the two left, and breathed a barely audible sigh of relief. Maybe he’d be able to relax tonight - Hell, maybe he’d be able to actually sleep-

“Hello, Boys,” Salcedo’s smug voice burst through the car speakers, and Ben and Sammy jerked in shock and then looked at each other, stunned. “Yea, it’s me, you’re old pal Ernie! You’se are actually hearing me over the radio right now, but see, you’se two are special cause I’m broadcastin’ just for  _ YOU _ .”

“Jack-in-the-Box - No fucking way,” Ben stared at the radio in shock before hurriedly turning it off. “What. The. FUCK. Was. That.” 

Sammy swallowed, his face going pale.

“Ben…? We need to get out of this car, right now.”

“What? Dude, we’re like 15 minutes away from home, I can’t just park my-”

“- **_BEN_ ** . They’ve hacked into your car. They’ve fucking hacked into the radio somehow, and-”

The radio came back on of its own accord, and Ernie’s low chuckle rolled ominously through the speakers.

“Benny boy...that was RUDE, hanging up on me like that.” 

“I don’t know how the fuck you managed this Salcedo, but I was JUST belting out the  _ Hamilton _ soundtrack and you interrupting that really pisses me off, so -”

“-aww. I’m sorry Benny, didn’t mean to ruin your showtunes and what not. How’s ‘bout you and ‘Shotgun’ pay me a visit at the Institute? Yeah...that sounds like a great idea. That way I can make you both sing like birds.” Sammy swore he could hear the smile in the older man’s voice, and he could feel his stomach drop.

“You know Ernie that sounds like a really interesting invite, but Ben and I have plans that don’t involve shooting the breeze with you anytime soon, so I think we’re going to have to pass,” Sammy replied, half shocked that his voice sounded as cooly level as it was. 

“Hmm...well, here’s the thing boys..I wasn’t really asking.”

“Uh. Sammy?” He looked over at his friend, who was staring at the steering wheel...which was moving of its own accord.

“Shit, Ben - turn it off, turn the car off, I’ll call Lily-” Ben jerked out of his stupor and tried to do exactly that as Sammy grabbed his cellphone. 

*NO SERVICE*

“Sammy, Sammy...the fucking car - The fucking car won’t shut off dude, I can’t get take it out of Drive!” Ben was punching the steering wheel in panic and impotent anger, slamming his feet down on the pedals. Nothing appeared to work, and the car turned effortlessly down a side street on its own, heading away from their home.

“-You should see the looks on you’se two’s faces,” Salcedo gloated with another chuckle. “And hey, a shame about that cellphone service, eh ‘Shotgun’? We here at the Science Institute don’t use Verizon.”

Ignoring his laughter, Sammy tried to force open the passenger side door, noting with despair that the two of them we effectively locked in.

“We’re trapped in here Ben. We don’t have a choice.”

“ **_NO_ ** . You’se  **_DON’T_ ** . And don’t attempt bringing in anyone else to the party either boys, or it will go even...worse for you. See you soon, ‘Shotgun’, ‘Sawed-off’. See? That was a joke.” The mans’ booming laughter seemed to echo in the car as it disappeared into a tunnel heading towards Salcedo and the Science Institute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Is vehicle hacking legit?" you may find yourself asking, unsure - it is indeed, and here's a vid from back in 2015 -https://youtu.be/MK0SrxBC1xs


End file.
